Watkinsville considers allowing beer & wine sales in restaurants and retail

Watkinsville City Council
June 14, 2006
Oconee Living Section
Athens Banner-Herald
Watkinsville considers beer and wine sales
By Daniel J. Matthews, Jr.
Correspondent

After an arduous ordeal of considering budgeting and a sign ordinance, Mayor Jim Luken was ready to adjourn the lengthy meeting of the Watkinsville City Council. City council members John Walsh, Jr. and Samantha Purcell had a new business bombshell to drop with almost no one left to watch the impact.

Walsh read a prepared statement supporting the city council’s consideration of regulating beer and wine sales in city restaurants and retail establishments. Purcell followed up with a list of 10 reasons she felt the regulation of beer and wine sales would be beneficial for Watkinsville. Both emphasized they did not want to ever see hard alcoholic drinks sold in city limits.

Currently Oconee County allows sales of beer and wine in stores outside the city limits. Council member Brian Brodrick said the ordinance needs a lot of work, and he is generally considered the swing vote.

Member Mike Link and city attorney R. Judson Huff immediately asked for a referendum and the mayor made sure their concerns would be addressed at a meeting, possibly 6 p.m. Monday, June 26. Link indicated he could not make that meeting time and the mayor responded by saying he would poll the members individually to see if they could make that time.

A draft copy of the ordinance will be available for public inspection starting Wednesday, June 21 at the Watkinsville Community Center. Current state statute makes an exception for beer and wine in having to have a referendum, but the city council may still opt for one ultimately if approved by mayor or council.
The council in other action approved nine business licenses.

· Steve Knapp and Laura Wright (fresh from Ohio) of the original Smoking Stevie Barbecue restaurant appeared before the council to get a deli license with approval from the Agriculture Department at Jack’s Food Corner as part of42 Greensboro Highway for owner Zahid Abdullah.

· Vicky Tavernier received a business license for Sweet ReTreat in Town Center at 2 S. Main Street, Suite 102. This dessert shop will feature shaved ice, ice cream, smoothies and cakes.

· Tom George was granted a business license for TCML, Inc. This is a real estate business at his 205 Concord Drive home in Bishop’s Vineyard.
· Daniel Nash can now operate his general contracting business from his home at 115 VFW Drive.

· Kari Lentini opened her synchronistic business called The Beadholder attached to the back of the Main Street Yarn Shop. Together they will promote beads, button and fiber as well as the interesting buckets from the next person granted a business license.

· Stephanie Cartwright has perfected a technique to apply and waterproof fabric to small decorative buckets. She bought out Athens hardware of every small bucket they had and now has incorporated Jack & Jill Company doing business as Bread & Budder at 1260 Greensboro Highway. Southern Living magazine will be featuring her creations in an upcoming issue and Cartwright is pursuing patents for her procedure.

· Wes Payton appeared for his partner Scott Boswell, and they will be opening the third eatery of this meeting alone with Floyd’s Grill featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, milk shakes and the like with a drive through in the old Sewing Shop and one-time location of David’s Barbecue. Payton and Boswell will be incorporating a secret family recipe for a hoagie bun burger from an old South restaurant in Nicholson.

· Michael McCoy received permission to begin doing business as Southern Carne and Mechanical Services at 1241 Greensboro Highway.

In other matters, the council tabled a request from Steve and Dory Brown for a demolition permit for the historic district home at 36 South Main Street. The former occupants used the house as a kennel rendering the house unsalvageable, according to the Browns. The city will send the housing inspector and the code enforcement officer Robert Hegge to inspect the old Aycock house constructed in the early 1900s.

Tom Breedlove of Williams and Associates appeared for Chad Horne and Aldridge, Inc., received a building permission for a build-to-suit 80’ x 135’ steel building (shell only) at 1031 Business Boulevard.

Luken has issued notices to proceeds for the streetscape bid through the Jaeger Company through the JHC Company of Peachtree City and the RJ Haney Company will start working on the signalization at Harden Hill-Main Street-Simonton Bridge intersection. Streetscape will be slightly scaled back from original plans concentrated on Main Street with fewer retro light posts and sidewalks not extending to the railroad tracks. The RJ Haney Company will be part of a special project meeting at the community center June 20.

Banners will be marketed for bicentennial beginning soon and hope to be up on the downtown telephone poles by July 26. The council also approved Maridee Williams to head up a birthday celebration for the city on this birthday November 24.

The city approved a new sign ordinance effectively keeping billboard out of Watkinsville. The budget passed with approval of new street department truck, police car, video equipment, new copier, remodeling the bathrooms in the community center, fence for Rocket Field and sidewalks kept in next year’s plans. The Harris Shoals parkland survey and zero turn lawn mower did not make it.
Oconee County Board of Commissioner Chuck Horton attended the meeting, as did State Representative Jane Kidd.

The Mayor also spoke out against an auction on two small pieces of property at 19 Whitehall Road after getting deceived by owner Jean Evans, real estate agent Judy McDonald of Coldwell Banker and auctioneer Sam Evans. Luken and attorney sent certified and regular mail letters letting the involved parties know of the substandard lots lack of sewer hookup and other difficulties involving any potential sale.